This year's winners came from industries ranging from software and marketing to technology, beauty and dining.

Each year,The Republichonors 35 entrepreneurs who are identifying unmet needs and creating successful solutions for them. As risk-takers, they develop and test ideas, map out business plans and overcome challenges, all while building their ventures.
This year's winners came from industries ranging from software and marketing to technology, beauty and dining.(Photo: Photo by: The Republic)

Three years ago, two medical students at the University of Arizona came up with a tool to help them prepare for exams.

They created images and developed stories to go along with them, creating a way of remembering loads of medical information. It worked.

Adeel Yang and Ron Robertson left medical school to launch Picmonic, a visual-based study-guide tool for medical and nursing students. Yang recently returned to school to complete his degree.

"We decided that the traditional way of studying, reading and highlighting books and making our own flash cards was not doing it for us. So we started creating these silly pictures and stories and it worked," Yang said.

"We were doing better on our exams. Other students were loving what we were doing and wanting us to share our pictures and stories with them."

Picmonic, now a subscription-based business, has attracted more than 50,000 students across the country since it launched in 2012. The company has raised seed funding in the past two years and expects to do more than $1 million in sales by the end of this year.

That kind of innovation and accelerated growth is why Yang is among the winners of The ArizonaRepublic's 2014 35 Entrepreneurs 35 & Younger competition.

Each year, The Republic honors 35 entrepreneurs who are identifying unmet needs and creating successful solutions for them. As risk-takers, they develop and test ideas, map out business plans and overcome challenges, all while building their ventures.

This year's winners came from industries ranging from software and marketing to technology, beauty and dining.

"I thought the overall depth of the different industries and creativity and innovation was really quite remarkable," said Justin Bayless, CEO of Bayless Healthcare Group and a judge for this year's contest. Bayless is also a 2013 winner of the competition. "I thought there was a varying range of different industries, and it was pretty cool to be a part of seeing how many young people are doing amazing things."​

The winners are being announced at a time when Arizona is winning accolades for its entrepreneurial environment.

Arizona is recognized as a top-ranked state in the country for entrepreneurial activity, according to business magazine Fast Company. And the strength of the entrepreneurial community ripples through the local economy as start-up ventures create jobs and purchase goods and services.

Silicon Valley Bank, which recently announced plans to expand its Tempe location, surveyed businesses and found that 54 percent of the respondents from the Southwest successfully raised private capital in 2013, which was higher than the national average of 48 percent.

Arizona also has a healthy presence on the Inc. 5000, an annual ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private businesses. Arizona placed 104 companies on the current Inc. 5000 list, ranking 17th among states. California was the leader, with 694 companies on the Inc. 5000, followed by Texas and New York.

Among the winners of this year's 35 Entrepreneurs 35 & Younger is restaurateur Andrew Fritz, who, along with his partner chef Bernie Kantak, launched Phoenix-based In Good Spirits.

The restaurant company's goal is to serve "great food, great beverages and a personalized service experience," Fritz said.

Fans of Citizen Public House in Scottsdale and the Gladly in Phoenix may be familiar with pork belly pastrami, coffee-charred short ribs with gorgonzola barley and blueberry compote or the freshly-made Thai margaritas.

"Part of our core belief is making people happy," Fritz said. "And we've translated that into two (restaurant) concepts now."

Making handmade spirits has also set the restaurants run by In Good Spirits apart from others.

"When we opened Citizen Public House, the big focus was on cocktails and there has been a cocktail renaissance going on across the country for many years," he said.

"It's all about that service encounter, and I think that's what we do best. Anyone can copy our food menu and anyone can make the same drinks or design a restaurant like ours, but our competitors can't beat us when it comes to customer service."

Leor Lapid, an innovator who is lessening the agony of moving for college students, is also among the winners of this year's entrepreneurial competition.

Lapid and Matt Grossman launched Dorm Room Movers in 2008 right after they graduated from college. They gradually grew their business with personal funding from their day jobs until they could run the business full time.

The company moves, ships and stores students' belongings around the country. Popular offerings include the summer storage service, in which boxes and tape are sent to students for use in packing their belongs, which are then picked up by movers and stored. The movers deliver the boxes to a new residence when a student returns to school.

"Our shipping services help students get their items to college at the beginning of the semester and back home at the end of the semester," Lapid said in his application.

The Scottsdale-based company serves more than 10,000 students and 115 schools in more than 30 states.

"I have always been entrepreneurial and owned little businesses," said Lapid, who owned a DJ company while in college. "I was looking for the bigger idea and kept pursuing the idea."

Reach the reporter at angelique.soenarie@arizonarepublic.com.

The criteria

Winners must have been born on or after Nov. 1, 1978, and must hold a significant equity position in their business.